Aims

The River Thames Visitor Centre hopes to provide an advisory body for those wishing to enjoy the River: a club around a wide variety of the larger environmental, social and economic activities such as use of natural resources, recreation, music, art and literature as well as being a champion in respects of all river related social, environmental and economic activities concerned with the river, its banks and wider environs.

To meet these aims and objectives the RTVC will centre on providing the widest possible environmental information as well as explaining the environmental needs of the Thames. The RTVC in association with other groups including Thamesbank is developing plans for its sympathetic environmental management and the RTVC provides a location for these activities and a space for enjoying the recreational and social benefits provided by the Sea in the City. The River Thames Visitor Centre will also provide a location for the promotion of River groups and users and a visitor destination for Richmond-upon-Thames.

To understand how this can all be achieved you have to understand the environment. In the dictionary it is described as the "physical surroundings and conditions especially as affecting people's lives. These are the conditions and circumstances of living and external conditions affecting growth."

However the loose and often inaccurate use of this word, by laymen, the media and organizations, has lead people to believe that the word environment is specific to some woolly idea incorporating global warming, saving whales, alternative energy, eating organic food and keeping footpaths open.

Understanding the environment is not an abstract idea, it is all about understanding the sum of the parts, to form knowledge of the whole; the world around you. It encompasses every aspect of our life. It is the term at the root, which links all other aspects of our survival. It incorporates commerce, politics, science, religion and every aspect of the quality of our lives.